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Thursday, April 19, 2018

In Which Case Jenn Cannot Trust Her Running Tech (Mostly)

I bought Bluetooth headphones a month or so ago, to free myself from the tyranny of all those connecting wires. The pair I got had largely rave reviews on Amazon, with one exception: there were multiple complaints that the headphones will interrupt your music with a "low power" warning every few minutes as soon as the batteries drain down to 30%.

I heard this message for the first time about ten minutes into a recent morning run. Aha, I thought, no problem - I can suffer through the interruptions and then I'll charge my 'phones back up as soon as I get home. Surely 30% battery can get me through 45 more minutes!

And then they died 15 minutes later. So either Amazon is lying to me or the manufacturer recently changed this feature and took the feedback a little too much to heart.

When else has a dead battery thrown a wrench in my runs? Well, let's see. I've complained on multiple occasions about my phone dying in the cold, although stashing it in my pocket or sleeve seems to help keep the temperature up. I'm bitter about those losses since I lose out on tracking all my steps.

But you know what's NEVER failed me? My new GPS watch! Well, it's a little over a year old now, but it's still one of the best presents I've ever gotten. This baby has up to 16 hours of battery life; I could run TWO MARATHONS BACK TO BACK and still have battery to spare. I WON'T. But I could!

And so I thank you, GPS watch, a little past our one-year anniversary: thank you for being the one piece of running tech I can always count on.